Pros and cons about buying Xenforo

Avramski

Member
Hi all.

I currently run a British Superbike forum, but with a limited amount of success. With that in mind, I'm considering buying Xenforo to replace the phpBB forum I currently use to attract new members.

Please could you have a look at my forum (link is in my profile) and list any potentional positive or negative changes there would be.

1 more quick question, what's the spam filters like? Over the last 2 or 3 weeks, I've seen a lot of spam bots registering, which is another reason I'm considering the move away from phpBB.
 
Hi
I think its very hard to read in your forum. a much simpler style with focus on content will be much better.
keep in mind, that it is always content whats rules and not the software. software may be helpful, but without content it doesnt help you.
 
Please could you have a look at my forum (link is in my profile) and list any potentional positive or negative changes there would be.
I know I'll be shot down for this, but I honestly don't think the forum software has as much to play with success as does your community and content.

You can make any forum a bit more appealing when it comes to styling. But in the end, it's community and content.
Build it and they will come just isn't true. Xenforo is not magic. It still takes work.

Where Xenforo excels is their support, technology and ability to style your own forum.
 
It is pretty hard to distinguish the background image from the written content. Why not change the colors a bit?

This. It makes it a a little hard for me as well to distinguish the content from the background as they blend in too much. About xenforo, I see all pros if you purchase it. It is an excellent software for both ends, from the admin end of use as well as from users side. Xenforo is very flexible, It can be styled and customised very easily so you can make it attractive to your current and future members. It is also very secure and it has a great staff and community where you can receive very good support should you need it.
 
I cant say too much more then what has already been said.
xenForo is a lot more up to date with the look and feel of the internet as a whole.
One of your mjor problems is the color scheme you have and the old software you are running your forums with.

Something to think about, when a resturant looses customers they redo the menu, clean up the dining area if not over haul it completely.
I would over haul your forums with xenForo and then choose a easy to read scheme / style that is more inviting for motocross riders. Just think about their taste more than your own.
 
If your success with community building on phpBB is limited, then switching to XF isn't going to be a magic bullet for you. I'd recommend sticking with phpBB until you can "prove yourself" so to speak, by building up an active community. In the initial stages of community building, the platform isn't the key factor, the person building the community is.
 
The success of a community is determined on a minimal part by the forum software. The key of the success it the quality of your offert, of your contents.

Pros on Xenforo: is more engaging, more social and imho more user friendly that PHPBB and the others forum software.

Cons: PHPBB is free. Xenforo isn't free. Xenforo need some time to understand how to manage the board (permissions, groups etc.)
 
If your success with community building on phpBB is limited, then switching to XF isn't going to be a magic bullet for you. I'd recommend sticking with phpBB until you can "prove yourself" so to speak, by building up an active community. In the initial stages of community building, the platform isn't the key factor, the person building the community is.

The way I'm thinking is a fresh start (a bit like what Mr McKee suggested above).

When I uploaded the style I'm using, and tweaked it, I purposely did it that way so it stood out from another BSB forum. I added the image as the background was a rather plain grey.

Anyway, all the comments have given me plenty to think about, so I will consider changing the style a bit as well as buying Xenforo.

Thankyou very much everyone for taking the time to look at my forum and comment, it's highly appreciated.
 
First your site is not in your signature. I found it in your profile though
http://www.bsb-forum.co.uk/index.php?sid=ccc26fef0dca4b6a5df5606b86c8f6e2

Here's your feedback and advice about XF.

I like your logo - very attractive and relevant, strong without screaming.
.
The rest is a bit plain and the colours don't hang together. There are sudden orange-brown links which don't appear ENOUGH to balance. I'd work on those category bars. If they were more readable you could add more info on what they are about and make it tempting.

I can see the lack of response you're getting. I suggest you make a habit of trawling around to find interesting news items. Your news section has only 3 in it since last August. Mine has about 3 a week.
News items are quick and easy because you don't need to write them. But always add a personal comment not just a bare URL - why should I bother to click it?

Posts which include questions - do you agree? what do you think? I wonder if ....
are better to get a response than statements.

But finally I don't agree it's all about content. My content is the same or only a bit better than when I ran VB. But XF gets people replying on every thread I post up. That didn't happen before.
XF draws you in by all kinds of clever little design details. It makes it SO easy to post and you even feel you are already part of the thread because your avatar is right there at the bottom.

As others have said the admin is MUCH easier to manage and my users don't get lost much either.
Plus an excellent addon community which works closely with the XF team.
Once you buy the first year licence it isn't that expensive to upgrade next time - oh and it has helpful systems to make upgrading less messy if you use addons or alter templates.
 
Morgain, that's quality feedback, thankyou! (y)

A couple of things though, the news section at the top is about forum and website news, it's the catagories below that are the main part forum, but your right, I could be posting more news stories, ect. Also, as I said in my OP, I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to post links seeing as I'm a new member, hence why it's in my profile.

As for the colours, I removed the background image that was being used, as others said it did clash with the rest of the forum, so for the time being, I've reverted back to the style defaults, although I will be tweaking them a bit.

When it comes to posting news items, I don't like copying and pasting press releases from other sites, instead preferring to write something different, there's more chance of being picked up by search engines that way, thus more chance of attracting new (and hopefully active,) members.

Again, thankyou. :)
 
Hi all.

I currently run a British Superbike forum, but with a limited amount of success. With that in mind, I'm considering buying Xenforo to replace the phpBB forum I currently use to attract new members.

Please could you have a look at my forum (link is in my profile) and list any potentional positive or negative changes there would be.

1 more quick question, what's the spam filters like? Over the last 2 or 3 weeks, I've seen a lot of spam bots registering, which is another reason I'm considering the move away from phpBB.

I don't think you can go wrong replacing phpBB with XenForo, personally I think it blows phpBB out the water in terms of usability and appeal. You'd most likely also see a drastic drop in spam using XenForo, mainly because some forum software like phpBB and vBulletin are highly targeted the most by spammers over the years. XenForo is pretty new, it's not so much on the spammers radar just yet.

If you use lots of add-ons with phpBB for certain things, which I know are there. That's about the only thing I would weigh-up between the two, what you'd still need and is there in XenForo to use by default, or as an add-on.
 
Morgain, that's quality feedback, thankyou! (y)

You're a gentleman!

I didnt mean the top news section - I meant the biiker news one. That's a great way of making your forum interesting.
You're right about copying stuff from other sites. I sometimes copy a key sentence or two but I ALWAYS add my own comment to spice it up OR make it clearer why it might interest my readers. I don't expect anyone to click without knowing if it's worth it to their specific interests.

As a rule if you're not allowed to do something you simply cannot do it.
Look under your name top right. IF there is a link for Signature in that list you can use it.
 
Ok, final post from me in this topic, unless a question or comment about my forum requires an answer ....

After thinking about what I should do and considering the replies I've had, I've decided I will buy Xenforo. The reason for going ahead and getting Xenforo is basically a fresh look and feel about the forum/site.

Unfortunately though it won't happen for about 4 weeks though as I will not have the spare pennies before then. On the bright side however, that does coincide nicely with the start of the new season! ;)

Once again thankyou to everyone who has taken the time to look at my side and comment about it, and offer advise on what I should do. It's been highly appreciated. (y)
 
Top Bottom